Can someone explain the Trade Board to me?

Rayner

I'm not as big of a collector as I once was, but the Space Staff pins look really cool, I assume they would be from the Trade Board for PAX Aus like it was for West and East.

I was wondering if someone could explain the whole thing before I go and Make a fool of myself.

hacky

It'd be pretty hard to make a fool of yourself at the pinny trade boards unless you were actively trying.

The actual trade boards will likely be two 1-for-1 pinny trades, with staff, an enforcer or a volunteer stationed at the board. There might be the space staff pins on the board, but there might not be. Either way, if there's any pinny on the board that interests you, you would put your pinny to trade on the table (facedown so the pinny arcade logo is visible), and trade for the pin you would like.

The space staff pins aren't always on the board, but may instead be part of a game of chance that is next to the pin trade boards. It is the same 1-for-1 pinny trade, but you trade your one pin for a randomly selected one. If it is like East/West, the setup is a set of numbered boxes with a pin loaded inside each box. You pick a number, and receive the pin inside. It could be any of the space staff pins, including the gold captain pin.

At West, they limited the trades to 2 per 1-2 hours, unsure if that limit will be in place at Aus. Anyway, hope this info helps you prepare!

Occam

Also worth noting that at West, each pin trade booth had their own separate timer. So when both trade booths were staffed, you could hit them each every 1-2 hours, not just one of them.

And also, I would dismiss this as just a rumor if I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I literally saw a golden meeple come from the blind boxes. I don't know what algorithm they used for selecting pins that would allow that, but it definitely happened. The person manning the booth even called it out when it happened.

As far as the golden captain pin, I was told there was always at least one on the board at all times.

Rayner

thanks for the info.

So it's not just one big board, it's a few small boards/Booths?

Occam

Yeah, at West there were two of them that I was aware of, on either side of the merch tables in the expo hall. They weren't necessarily staffed at all times, and sometimes they were staffed but just had the 1-1 trades and not the blind boxes.

One other tip, the table with more visibility had a much longer line, so if that seems to be the case for you, and if you plan on hitting them up frequently, start with that one so your timers are close together. Otherwise you'll do the fast one then have to stand in line for 15-20 minutes for the other one. Easier and more efficient to keep them close together so you're not eligible for one then have to wait for the other.